I am slowly going mad (madder?) and I am being driven there by telecommunications companies at an ever increasing rate of knots.
The first problem was that the phone box (pit?) out the front had to be upgraded - which took weeks and weeks.
The next problem: move the phone line (and number) from the old house to the new house.
Simple, you think? Apparently not.
Optus: We can't do it. Our systems can't handle two houses (lines) on the same address.
WTF? what if I had two phone lines? or had to replace a line?
Optus: You have to get Telstra to port it back to them; they install a new line to new house then they can move the old number onto the new line (we also can't install new lines) ; then you can re-sign with us.
Can I keep my old plans eg. the internet one cos your new ones suck
Optus: Nope. New plans all round - and more money for less. And it will all take weeks. Months. Possibly years!
Needless to say, the complaint I lodged has not been answered after a month.
Telstra: Can't understand why Optus can't do it. Sure we can do a new line into the house.
and they did - within a week. Told me exactly what I had to do. Port back number, cancel temporary number, move old number onto new line. Easy peasy!
Telstra: Port it back? not a problem!
except it has been a month - and as of this morning, I'm onto my third application cos they keep losing the others or the system cancels them accidently. (They are using Seibel - so does ATO, so I fully understand how this happens)
This is the quick version without the long phone conversations, back and forth, and forth and back. And the cold dark trips up to the old house to check emails, submit assignments or check the answering machine.
I have resorted to a 30 metre extension line (well, 2 x 15 metre with an adaptor) patched into the Starserve, which I hooked up yesterday. It is working well so far; hope it doesn't rain. Or someone trips over it.
I keep asking myself how much I want to keep the phone number I have had for the past 20 years. VOIP is looking good. So are carrier pigeons or smoke signals.
Fox wasn't much better until Troy got a supervisor. We could have had satellite the following day but opted for the few days wait for the cables to be installed. So we are Foxed if not Phoned.
And I thought the dramas finished when the house was finished. *cue maniacal laughter*
